The Queen and The Emperor
by VoyeurTheNinja
Summary: One-Shot. On one average afternoon in Kosei High School, the Venus of Shogi encounters the latest pupil of Madarame and gets a first-hand look at the boy's eccentrics.


The bell signaling the end of classes in Kosei high-school rang throughout the hallways as students filed out of their rooms to hang out and socialize after classes. The afternoon sun shining brightly upon the numerous benches surrounded by greenery outside the school building, Hifumi Togo, with a pen in her grasp, lightly tapped its tip repeatedly on the surface of her opened notebook. Her chin on her hand and her eyes gazing at the students walking past towards the school gates, Hifumi had chosen to stay after classes for a bit to study up so she could focus more on her Shogi lessons later.

The sun had yet to set, the sounds of students chatting slowly dimmed down until she could hear the birds chirping in the trees, but no matter how peaceful the atmosphere got, she could not get her mind to focus on the notes laid in front of her. Even once there were no more students in sight or earshot, it was just not enough.

Her fingers itched to grasp a Shogi piece, her mind scrambled for different techniques and strategies to try out on Akira tonight, and the longer she held her pen, the more she felt like slamming it onto her book as she would do the same when moving a piece into a vital strategic position whilst calling out the attack with a name she had committed a decent amount of time to create.

Needless to say, she was bored out of her mind and let out a low sigh as she closed her notebook, wondering if Akira would be willing to spend some time with her tonight on their usual practices.

"Oh dear, this won't do at all," she heard the deep voice of a young man spoke not too far from where she sat and nearly jumped, thinking she had been alone this entire time.

Hifumi glanced aside to the bench next to hers, and there, almost as if he had suddenly materialized out of thin air, sat another student of Kosei with a brush in one hand and a canvas in the other. He didn't even noticed that she was looking at him as his eyes were completely fixated on the canvas he held, his thumb brushing his lips in thought with Hifumi simply staying quiet for a few seconds or so.

"Can I help you?" Hifumi managed to speak up and the boy clicked his tongue in annoyance, shaking his head not at her, but at the objects in his grasp. Hifumi repeated her words once more and only then did she managed to get his attention. There, with his eyes meeting hers, did she finally recognize him as that one boy who was known for being a student of the infamous Madarame. His skin looked slightly pale now that she got a good look of him, his gray eyes looked either focused or aloof, and after a few seconds of silence, Hifumi spoke again, "What are you doing?"

"Oh? Don't mind me. I was simply doing some work to pass the time," the boy stood up from his bench and moved in front of hers, "May I have a seat?" he asked and Hifumi hesitantly nodded, the boy making himself comfortable on the other side of the bench as soon as she did.

He placed his canvas and brush aside on the table and Hifumi could notice the vague shape half-way painted onto it.

"You are Hifumi Togo, correct?" the boy politely asked and Hifumi nodded once more, "Ah, then I am not wrong when you are acquainted with Akira as well, are you?"

Hifumi's eyes widened slightly, "You know Akira, too?"

"Indeed. I am Yusuke Kitagawa, a friend of his," he formally introduced himself with a hand on his chest and a small smile, "I have seen both you and Akira seldom appear together in numerous areas I happened to pass by, so I am quite curious about you two. He's never quite mentioned being affiliated with the Venus of Shogi. after all. Are you close by any chance?"

"W-We're just friends," Hifumi insisted with a bit of red on her cheeks and waved a hand to dismiss his question. Then, after a few more seconds of silence, she looked up at Kitagawa and though his questions were clearly a bit too personal for someone you've just met, the boy looked completely unaware of this fact. It was as if social cues were an alien concept to the artist, "I am just teaching him how to play Shogi, that's all," she tried to explain it to him after clearing her throat, "I test out strategies I come up with on him and help him improve his strategic awareness."

"That explains the skill he shows in battle then," Yusuke muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing," Yusuke waved a hand as Hifumi didn't quite catch what he heard.

Brushing off his off-handed comment, Hifumi brought her attention back to the canvas on the table, "Excuse me, but if I may ask, what were you doing with this?"

"Painting. Is that not obvious?" Yusuke said as if she had asked him an odd question.

"No. I mean, what were you painting in the first place? The trees?" she leaned her body towards the canvas, and upon getting a closer look, she noticed the distinct shape of a girl sitting on a bench painted onto the canvas. Her expression was one of either melancholy or wistfulness, and it was honestly quite beautiful to look at, despite it being incomplete, "... Were you perhaps... painting me?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Oh, yes. I just happened to past by actually. But when I got a glimpse of you whilst you were deep in thought, I couldn't help but take out my brush and paint the the stunning image before me," Yusuke picked up his brush from the table and fiddled with the thing before a frustrated frown slightly formed on his face, "At least, that was what I had planned on doing. But it seemed that my brush refuses to paint anything satisfactory. A dire situation I've been in for the past few days, sadly."

Glancing at the boy as he got quiet and stared at his brush in thought, Hifumi had heard a few things about Yusuke, such as how he is not talked to very often by the other students of Kohei, simply for his past affiliations with Madarame. Admittedly, he seemed a little eccentric, his dedication to art being almost on par with the zeal Hifumi herself shows when it came to Shogi. Not many people in Kosei talked to her often as well due to her rising fame, so, in a way, she felt almost a bit of a kindred spirit in him. But before Hifumi could speak up again, Yusuke's phone rang and the boy took it out to answer a call.

"Oh? I'll be on my way then," Yusuke closed his cell phone and pocketed the device.

"Was that Akira?" Hifumi couldn't help but ask and Yusuke nodded with a small smile.

"Correct. He asked to see me, so it seems that I should be going right now," he looked at the small canvas on the table as he put away his brush, "You may keep that if you want. I do not have any use of it."

"A-Are you sure?" Hifumi asked with a tone off surprise, "It seems a bit... wasteful to just give it to a stranger."

"Stranger?" Yusuke scoffed with an odd laugh, "I'm sure that after this small talk, we're both well-acquainted now that we can call ourselves more than that. Now then, I must be on my way. It was a pleasure talking with you, Togo," taking his leave after giving a small bow, Yusuke calmly walked away whilst humming a tune to himself and Hifumi at lost for words.

As he left, Hifumi glanced back at the canvas that had been left behind without a second thought and lifted a hand to feel out the painting. Though incomplete, and painted by a considerably odd person, Hifumi couldn't help but appreciate the gesture and smiled to herself. Once Hifumi was done packing up her things, the Shogi Queen carried the canvas under her arm as she left for the school gates, her hand taking out her phone to text Akira if he was free tonight for some practice.


End file.
